Through the Looking Glass
by Smudged
Summary: A journey through the looking glass and second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. That's the only way Hermione had to describe what was happening. Time Travel fic.
1. Chapter 1

**3** **rd** **July 1998**

Hermione was finding it hard to relax. The war was over. They had won; they were mourning and rebuilding. Watching Hogwarts being rebuilt was sobering. She felt like she was seeing into the inner workings of Hogwarts, something that wasn't supposed to see the light of day. There had been so much loss, and seeing Hogwarts in this state was almost enough to undo her fragile self-control. So much loss, so much destruction, and for what? Voldemort was gone –for good- but the attitudes surrounding Muggleborns and Squibs was still persevering. Hermione was being heralded a hero, but she knew it wasn't like that for all Muggleborns . The decimation was quieter, but it was still there. Kingsley was doing as much as he was able to while he was Minster, but Hermione knew it would be a long time coming before the idea of blood purity was fully erased from Magical Britain. The change would start at Hogwarts, and as those who came through the magnificent castle became adults hopefully a new era would start with blood status being a thing of the past. Hermione knew she was being idealistic with that thought, but it was something for hope for. And it was why the re-opening of Hogwarts was so vital.

* * *

Today she was working on the Room of Requirement and seeing if anything was salvageable. She and Neville had volunteered to start the work in there. Harry didn't want to go near the Room, as it held horrible memories from the Battle of Hogwarts, and Ron was at the Burrow with his family. Standing from the outside, looking at the soot stained walls, Hermione had little hope anything would be salvageable but still had to try.

Neville had just walked around the corner, and met Hermione at the singed tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, the trolls having long since fled. Both Hermione and Neville surveyed the damage. The walls were black, with scorch marks reaching up to the ceiling. Where a door used to be was an opening, through which they could see destroyed beams, but not much beyond. The fiendfyre had destroyed everything in its path, but the room was large enough they didn't know if it had destroyed everything.

Hermione turned to Neville, and with too much cheerfulness declared "Let's get started!" Hermione figured she may as well go into the task with a positive attitude, even if it seemed hopeless.

And so started a day of cleaning and repairing charms. The damage from the fiendfyre was very difficult to repair. The magic of the fire almost seemed to be hindering the efforts to repair the stones. Hermione started down one end of the corridor, with Neville at the other, as they worked their way in towards the gaping holes in the wall. It was almost two hours' worth of solid magic before they reached the opening. Both Neville and Hermione looked drained.

"Time to stop for morning tea, Hermione?" Neville asked as he tried to banish some soot from the stonework near the floor.

Hermione, who had just finished banishing the last of the black on her side, nodded in affirmative, and called for an elf.

"Mopsy!" And with a pop, a well-dressed house elf was standing in front of her "Could you please get us some morning tea?"

"Oh Yes Missus Her-my-oh-ninny! Mopsy would be honoured to get morning tea for the Great Granger" Mopsy exclaimed before popping out. About 30 seconds later, a well-made tray containing tea, scones and fruit appeared before Hermione. Hermione turned to Neville and gestured they sit down. After the tea had been poured, both Hermione and Neville looked down into their cups. After a moment Hermione spoke.

"Did you ever imagine it would be like this?"  
"Like what?" Neville asked, looking slightly perplexed.  
"This" Hermione said as she waved her arms around "The cleaning, the repairing, the normality. It just seems so… detached. We were at war 2 months ago, and now the moving on… I'm finding it hard. It's not what I expected, but at the same time I don't know what I expected!"

Neville looked over at Hermione, and could see her shoulder slightly shaking. Slowly he scooted over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're all confused at the moment. 3 months ago my only plan was to survive, and to keep the Room open for those who needed it. And now I'm helping fix the damage caused by one of my classmates. I'm just reacting to the moment. It will be a while before I can think ahead more than one day"

Hermione's shoulders slowly stopped shaking, and her breathing evened. She took a few deep breaths, and turned so she was facing Neville.  
"Thank you. I needed to hear that I'm not the only one feeling that. Harry is trying so hard to be strong for Ginny, and the Weasley's are still grieving Fred. I don't want to intrude upon them with my problems."

Neville nudged Hermione's shoulder gently with his own "What are friends for?"

Hermione and Neville finished their tea in a comfortable silence, resting up against each other, and taking comfort in the fact that neither of them could say what they'd be doing in two days from now.

* * *

After another few hours moving the beams away from the opening, Hermione and Neville were able to step through and view the damage in the room. There was a clearly burnt area through the piles of junk. Hermione could see that it was widest closest to the door, narrowing back to where she assumed the fire started. There was an area of melted and destroyed items on either side of the V, followed by sooty items. Just over the edge of the room, Hermione could see items that still appeared to be in good repair.

 _"This just got easier"_ Hermione thought with a relieved sigh. She had been concerned that the entire room had been burnt out. From what could be seen, it was just a small area that had been directly damaged or destroyed by the fiendfyre.

"Do we want to start at the front and work our way back?" Hermione asked, turning to face Neville.

"Sure" Neville shrugged. One way or another it had to be sorted, cleaned and repaired.

They soon fell into a rhythm of cleaning, repairing and banishing charms, depending on what was required. This ate up hours, and energy. The pair only stopped for a short lunch before diving back into it. It was only when the shadows started lengthening that they stopped, and looked around.

"I think that's enough for today" Hermione said tiredly. Neville could only nod in agreement. His voice was hoarse, and his arm was sore. "Shall we head down?" Hermione and Neville made the slow trip down to the Great Hall. There dinner was waiting for them, laid out on the table all the volunteers were using. Hermione slid in beside Harry and slowly started eating.

"Do you want me to wake you if you fall asleep in your potatoes?" Harry teased gently. Hermione hit him half-heartedly.  
"If I fall asleep in my potatoes, just leave me be. Maybe add some gravy for sleep-eating purposes." Hermione mumbed as she finished the rest of her plate.

* * *

Hermione had been staying with Harry at Grimmauld Place. Both wanted to give the Weasley's space and time. Minerva had lent them the use of a house-elf in return for the work they were doing at Hogwarts. This meant the house was slowly being cleaned, and restored to its former glory. Which, of course, was long before Walburga took over the house.

After a quick portkey home, Hermione slowly made her way up the stairs. She'd been given Sirius's old room, as the rooms they had stayed in last time had been put aside for questionable objects. Lying on the bed, Hermione could imagine a young Sirius here. Her heart broke him, only having this one area where he could be himself in the house, but you could see the love he had for his friends, and his motorbike. The photo of a scantily clad woman waving at her from the ceiling was distracting, but she was feeling tolerant of anything that bought Sirius happiness. Hermione did wish the witch would stop blowing kisses at her though. As she fell asleep, all the items that Hermione had seen through the day danced through her head.

* * *

 **4th July 1998**

Hermione was pacing up and down the opening to the Room of Requirements.

 _"Where was Neville?"_ Hermione seethed to herself. They had a tight time frame, and couldn't afford any delays. Eventually Hermione decided that she was going to wander around the burnt area and start to plan for the cleaning and repairing needing to be done today. Slowly Hermione walked around the burnt areas, viewing the damage and mentally cataloguing the items she saw. There were broke potion vials, shards of glass and flashing bits of metal to name some. Out of the corner of her eye, there was something shimmering. It was catching the light in such a way that it looked like a mirage. Hermione slowly walked towards it, being drawn towards it. All Hermione could think of was the shimmering. As she got closer, she could see there was a large silvery mass on the floor. Standing over the puddle, Hermione could see the room reflected. As she looked, the reflection changed from the burnt and melted mess that was around her. Instead the room looked like they did before the fire gutted it. Hermione lent forwards to get a better view. Hermione heard a noise and jerked sharply, while trying to turn to see who it was.

* * *

Neville was running. He was late and he knew it. It was worrying him that Hermione wasn't waiting for him out the front of the Room, so he walked in, trying to find her. As he walked closer to the centre, Neville could see Hermione bending over looking at something. Neville sighed in relief, and shouted out to her.

"HERMIONE! "

Hermione jerked, and turned, and lost her footing. Neville watched helplessly as she fell back, and continued to disappear. Running towards where Hermione had been, Neville was just in time to see the silvery puddle cloud over, turning into a matte grey.

Hermione was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

 **And so finishes the first chapter of the first fanfic I have written in a very long time. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you come back for the next chapter!**

 **I have the plot mentally mapped out in my mind, so just need to fit writing in around uni. Basically it may be a bit sporadic.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2

**_I appologise for the formatting in the last chapter. I've tried to fix it. Fanfiction formatting has always been an enemy of mine, so I'll probably have to tweak more chapters before the story is done._**

* * *

 **Date Unknown**

Hemione remembered hearing Neville call to her, and she remembered falling. And then there was the sensation of a portkey, a time-turner and apparition all at once. To say it was disconcerting would be an understatement.

Slowly she became aware of her body. She was lying on stone, which was feeling cold through her clothing. Her neck was slightly sore, as was hip. Hermione gradually opened her eyes, to see what was round her. Straight up was a ceiling, from where a faint glow was emanating. In her peripheral vision, there was... well... junk. Cupboards, books, brooms, clothing, jewelry, potions, and a kitchen sink by the looks of it. This bought Hermione up short. Not that long ago, there had been burnt and destroyed items where there was now undamaged items. As Hermione sat up, there was also no evidence of the silvery puddle. This was incredibly worrying, as Hermione was suspicious of things changing so quickly, and not knowing what caused it.

Hermione stood and patted herself down.

 _Wand?_ Check.

 _Bag?_ Check.

The bag was something Hermione was thankful she had. In it was a small amount of galleons, some clothing, a few books and rare items. It was nothing compared to when they were on the run from Voldemort, but she was finding moths of conditioning hard to overcome. Hermione had thought was being paranoid as she continued to take her bag with her, but at the moment she was incredibly grateful for it.

 _Apparently, 'Always be prepared 'isn't just a motto for muggle Scouts!_ Hermione giggled to herself.

Looking around it was obvious to see that Hermione was definitely standing in the middle of an undamaged Room of Requirement. With the Where sorted, Hermione started to look for clues to When she was. There were copies of the Daily Prophet speckled through the piles, but seeing as the latest copy that could be found was from 1806 - headlining the Fifty-Eighth Wizarding Schools Potion Championship – Hermione desperately hoped the When wasn't THAT far back.

Heading out into the hallway, the castle felt still. It was missing the energy that it normally had during the school year. Hermione cast the d _isillusionment charm on herself before continuing down the hallway. Just because the castle seemed empty, didn't mean it was. Slowly Hermione made her way towards the entry hall. She had just stepped into it, when Dumbledore appeared, wand in hand._ _"Well that helps narrow down the When a bit"._

 _"Show yourself" Dumbledore commanded. Hermione let out a relieved sigh. Clearly she stated_

 _"I am disillusioned. I will cancel my spell" and a_ _finite_ _to cancel the spell._

 _Hermione could see Dumbledore tracking her with his wand, and if he was surprised to see her standing in the entry he didn't show it._

 _"I believe it would be best for you to follow me to my office for a chat, before I consider contacting the DMLE and informing them of a trespasser"_

 _"Yes Professor" Hermione replied as she walked in front of him, and up to his office._

Dumbledore gestured for Hermione to be seated as he sat behind is desk.

"I am Professor Dumbledore, Miss..." Dumbledore left it hanging, but it was clear he expected an answer.

"Granger, Sir" Hermione replied softly.

"And do you have a first name, Miss Granger?"

"Hermione, Hermione Granger"

"Well Miss Hermione Granger, I am left wondering what you are doing wandering around the school during the summer holidays. Especially considering there is no student called Hermione Granger who has been enrolled at Hogwarts" There was no twinkle in his eyes as Dumbledore spoke these words.

"Please Sir," Hermione said hesitantly "Could I please ask the date?"

"It is the 4th of July"

"But what year?" Hermione needed to know this.

"It is the 4th of July 1977, but what this has to do with why you are here, I do not know

Hermione had stopped listening at 1977. Slowly she blinked, sat up straighter, and said firmly

"My name is Hermione Granger, and I came here from 4th July 1998. It would appear I am a time traveller."

With this proclamation Dumbledore folded his hands in front of him.

"I suggest you start from the top Miss Granger"

With that, Hermione told Dumbledore the basic facts about herself. She was a 19 year old muggleborn witch, had been sorted into Gryffindor, and completed her OWLs but not her NEWTs, due to the political climate at the time. She was careful to skirt around specific people and events, trying to keep it as general as possible. She finished with her falling into the puddle in the Room of Requirement and meeting Dumbledore after.

"And so you can see Sir, I have no idea how I came to be here. I was trying to work out When I was when you found me in the entry hall".

"Well Miss Granger, it appears to be quite the tale you have there. I assume you were keeping certain events from me? Well, probably for the best. The future is a fickle thing"

"Yes Sir. I've had experience with Time Turners before, and tried to follow the rules I was told then."

"May I please cast some charms on you Miss Granger. It may help shed some light on to what to do about your situation"

"Certainly Sir" Hermione responded politely. She knew that was really the only answer she could give, but appreciated the illusion of choice.

Dumbledore waved his wand in a complex pattern that Hermione didn't recognise, and hummed and ahhed as the spell did its work. When it was completed he tapped the tip of his wand on a piece of parchment and slide it over for Hermione to read.

"You, my dear child, have had a difficult time of it recently haven't you? I can see evidence of the Cruciatus curse, malnutrition, as well as several improperly healed injuries. However, the diagnostic appears to put you at 16 years old, not 19. Do you have an explanation for that?"

Hermione replied stiffly "No I do not. I do not know how I arrived in this time, so I cannot say what effect this action had on my age". Hermione didn't like not having the information needed, and she did not appreciate the suggestion that she may have been lying.

"Well" Dumbledore started "Assuming your story is true, we have few options. You have no family, no money, and no formally recognised qualifications. I think the best thing to do would be for you to re-do your OWLs, and if you wish to complete Seventh Year and sit your NEWTs, you could start in semester with the current intake. Is this acceptable Miss Granger?"

Hermione nodded in agreement "What would I do over summer? As you said, I have no money" Hermione thought it was best to not mention what she had in her beaded bag.

"How do you feel about having a job over the summer holidays? There are several shops in Diagon Alley who appreciate some extra help over this period, particularly in the back to school rush."

Hermione agreed immediately. A job would mean money, and money meant books. Books meant she could research how on earth she ended up in 1977.

"Where would I live? If I'm 16 now, I'm still 2 months away from my birthday, and still a minor"

"I believe I have a solution to that problem as well. I happen to know a witch who runs a small boarding house in one of the side alleys. I believe I would be able to broker a cheap room for you. This would satisfy both accommodation as well as supervision requirements."

Hermione chaffed a bit about being told she was to be supervised, but considering her current age and lack of OWLs it was to be expected.

"Thank you Sir, I appreciate what you're doing to help me."

"You are welcome Miss Granger. Now, if you go down the stairs and turn to the left you will come across a small chamber. I will have an elf bring you some tea while I sort out a job and a room. I should only be about half an hour and we can then leave for the Alley".

Hermione stood, thanked Dumbledore and left the office to find the chamber. Behind her, she heard the floo blaze to life, and Dumbledore call out 'The Nunarry'.

* * *

At almost half an hour on the dot, Dumbledore entered the chamber.

"I have secured for you a part time job Miss Granger. You are now a shop assistant at Flourish and Blotts."

Hermione grinned widely.

"Thank you Professor. That sounds wonderful."

* * *

 ** _I feel this is pretty self explanatory, but I feel I should probably still mention this. - The story will move not be cannon. Some parts will be, other parts wont be._**

 ** _I have the plot up until Oct 31 1981, so updates will happen as often as I can manage them. I'm aiming for minimum sized chapters of 1k, but they may be more, they may be less. These will fluctuate depending on what needs happen through the chapter._**

 _ **As bribery for reviews, I have some teasers written out for later chapters, which I will leave at the bottom of updates. The teasers aren't in any chronological order, so it will be a surprise when they show up**._


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